Monday

Apr 8, 2019 at 9:29 AMApr 8, 2019 at 3:28 PM

There’s no debating the power and purity of Aretha Franklin’s voice. During her reign as queen of the pop and R&B charts, as she belted out “Respect” or mightily crooned “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” she won 18 Grammys and had 15 Top 10 hits.

But before she became Lady Soul, she was a woman of gospel music, singing with her popular preacher father C.L. Franklin in Detroit, developing her vocal chops and learning the art of stage presence.

A few years after setting off on her own and achieving stardom, around the time of “Spanish Harlem” and “Rock Steady,” Aretha decided to revisit her roots, to make a gospel album, and to record it in front of a live audience. A further step was taken with the idea of shooting a documentary about the staging of the concert. It would happen on Jan. 13 and 14, 1972, at the New Bethel Church in the Watts section of Los Angeles.

The film was put into the hands of then-hot director Sydney Pollack, who had recently been nominated for directing “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (and would later make “The Way We Were” and “Tootsie”). But Pollack had no clue of how to make a documentary, he and his crew completely screwed up the filming of the two church concert dates - the sound didn’t sync with the picture - and the project was shelved. Then, almost four decades later, technology caught up with and fixed the problem. At which time, for reasons still unclear, Aretha refused to allow the film to be released. But last year, about three months after her death, an agreement was reached between the Franklin estate and producer Alan Elliott, who took over the project after Pollack died in 2008.

The question now is was it all worth it. The complicated answer is both yes and no.

Yes, because Aretha is at the top of her game throughout the 90-minute concert footage, her voice shaking the foundations of the small, packed church and sending the concertgoers - and parishioners - into delirium, partly because of her intensity, partly because of the content of the music’s message. These were, after all, nights of gospel.

There was also the vibrancy of Rev. James Cleveland, who emceed, played piano, and offered up moments of his own powerful voice. And there was the glorious sound of the 30 or so black-and-silver-clad members of the Southern California Community Choir backing up and sometimes matching the force that was Aretha.

The film, with selections taken from both nights, features celebrated gospel numbers including “Holy Holy,” “Precious Memories,” and “Climbing Higher Mountains,” as well as the renowned title track and a religiously oriented reworking of Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.”

No doubt, this film is aimed directly at fans of Aretha’ talents and lovers of gospel music.

The reasons that there is a “no” side to the question of was it worth it are due to its failures as a documentary. Sure, Pollack had multiple cameras in prime spots to capture the flavor of the event - from wide shots of the choir being directed by the energetic Alexander Hamilton to extreme closeups of Aretha at the microphone. But he also crams the film with unnecessary footage, from brief, throwaway behind-the-scenes shots that don’t explain anything, to the distraction of showing Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts at the back of the church.

Most of the songs are sung all the way through, but then Pollack brings the pacing to a grinding halt by keeping in a sequence of Aretha’s dad at the microphone, blathering on and on instead of letting her sing. But Pollack’s worst mistake is to have her begin “Thank You Lord for all You’ve Done for Me,” then cutting to a rehearsal of the same song, then cutting back to the first performance. It’s completely disorienting, and the mistake of a non-documentarian.

Still, the performance is what holds it all together, and no one could perform quite like Aretha. One piece of advice, though: If you’re going to buy a ticket to this, you’d really better be a fan of gospel music, because that’s all you’re going to get. There isn’t a hit to be heard.

Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.